Question

I have a question. Why is it that all three triplets are never sleeping at the same time? Is this one of those impossible things like finding a needle in a haystack? It is so frustrating to me that one of the kids will be sleeping and the other two crying or two sleeping and one crying or one will be almost asleep and loose the pacifier and wake up (you get the idea). Hardly ever are all three peacefully sleeping at once.
I have also recently learned that it is not possible for a 2 year old and 4 week old triplets to all take a nap at once. Well, I guess I should not say impossible because it does happen for a blissful 20 minutes before some one needs something. 20 minutes does not seem like a long time but you would be surprised what you can get done. I can eat lunch, go to the bathroom (by myself) and close my eyes for a quick (really quick) cat nap.

The 7th Harry Potter book is coming today. I only hope that Jeff and I can read it before they make it into a move.

Fun Facts

This post is all about numbers. I am going to give you all a glimpse into what life is like for us.
Baby weights: Jacob 7lbs 6oz, Quinn 6lbs 11oz, Claire 5lbs 12oz
Weight mom lost since giving birth: 45lbs.
Formula used per day: 64 oz. Each baby will drink between 2 and 3 oz per feeding.
Hours between each feeding: 3.
Times each baby is fed daily: 8.
Diapers used per day: 27.
Time it takes to feed all 3 by a single parent: 50 minutes.
Hours of sleep per night for Mom and Dad: 4 to 5.
Loads of laundry per week: 10 to 12.
Number of yawns per day by Mom and Dad: too many to count.
Number of times we walk up and down the stairs: I stopped counting.

Housekeeping

Strangely, this post is about the web log itself, rather than our family. If you look on the right-hand side of the page, you'll see a pair of new links.

The first links to our online photo album. I spent some time over the last few weeks rewriting and repopulating the site. The new structure allows much greater flexibility in the organization of pictures, and it will be the best place to get new pictures in the future. We'll try to post pictures on the web log, but they'll definitely make it to the album first. The only caveat is that the whole thing is running from a server in our basement and we don't have the best upload speed in the world, so be gentle.

The second link is to a web log maintained by our friends the Harts. They had almost exactly the same situation about three years ago and have been kind enough to share a lot of equipment and advice. Look to their site for a good example of a couple who managed to make triplets and a 2-year-old work while retaining their sanity.

Yes Sir, Yes Sir, Three Cribs Full

Quinn came home to join his siblings last night, so we're now one big, happy family. It's nice to be freed from the logistical nightmare that is having your children in two different places. We only did it for 3 days and I extend my sympathy and admiration to those parents who have to do it longer. All in all, we were extremely lucky in terms of everything hospital-related. We managed to get everyone out in a little over a fortnight and it's not uncommon to hear about children staying in Neo for triple-digit days.

Getting all three of them together and unencumbered by electrodes and feeding tubes has given Jen and I a chance to learn a little more about their personalities. Here are my thoughts after less than 24 hours with the three of them:

I think of Quinn as "The Professor." From Day 1, he's been the most curious about his surroundings and it's very common to see him with his eyes wide open, studying the world.

Jacob is definitely the gentle giant ("giant" being extremely relative here.) He's the biggest of the bunch and is extremely easygoing. He's like our own personal Buddha, although I haven't yet started rubbing his belly for luck.

Claire, on the other hand, is the drama queen. She is always the first one to start getting hungry (she takes less than the boys so I would expect her to be running on empty sooner), and she certainly lets us know. Her brothers don't seem to be bothered by her pre-meal howling, so we're thankful for that.

Now that everyone's home we can concentrate on preparation for Lance (Jen's brother) and Blair's wedding this weekend and possibly take some more pictures. Maybe we'll even have time for the obligatory "parent holding all those kids" shot.

Two's Company

Monday was a very exciting day in our house. We were able to take Jacob and Claire home from the hospital. Quinn has to stay a little longer to perfect his feeding skills. We are hopeful that he too will be home this week sometime.
Everyone is settling in and seems to be happy. Jeff and I are managing to get some sleep at night. Hayden has nicely settled into his new role as big brother. He is a great helper. He likes to give the babies their pacifiers when they cry and tells them that everything is alright.

Piccies

In order to combat accusations of favoritism, here's a picture of Hayden from our trip the beach on Saturday.

Now, lest we get bombarded with requests for more recent pictures of the triplets, here's a mug shot of everyone at 12 days old. From top to bottom are Quinn, Jacob and Claire.